MEASUREMENT OF GAS VELOCITY IN A PLASMA WIND TUNNEL USING an electron beam probe,

Abstract

An electron beam probe was installed in a 8000-kilowatt plasma facility. Difficulty in applying the electron beam probe to measurements of gas density, etc., was found to be due to the weak plasma arc generated magnetic fields producing positional displacements of the beam. These problems were solved by means of a closed-loop electronic controller. Response time of the controller is down 3 decibels at 130 hertz which was found to be sufficiently fast for adequate control. Attempts to measure gas velocity by measuring drift rates of beam generated plasma cylinders at fixed rates uncovered other problems. Estimates of gas velocity by this method gave 3700 plus or minus 400 meters per second as compared to a machine computed value of 3800 meters per second for air of h/RT sub o = 150. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jul 18, 1968
Accession Number
AD0678494

Entities

People

  • Charles Cason

Organizations

  • United States Army Aviation and Missile Command

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Buildings And Structures
  • Displacement
  • Electron Beams
  • Electrons
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Measurement
  • Test Facilities
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Computer Science/Computer Engineering/Data Science/Digital Signal Processing.
  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Directed Energy - Lasers
  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Microelectromechanical Systems